The Lakers are a popular team whose every move is widely discussed on the Internet and on television. One of the main topics of discussion is the actions of the management in the formation of the composition. Lakers fans are very demanding and the history of the franchise does not allow it to quietly enter a restructuring for several years. Los Angeles must always be on top and fight for the title.
Under this pressure, the management of the Californian team made mistakes more than once. Major miscalculations on the part of management are often associated with signing major contracts with Miami Heat players. Here I would like to highlight three characters: Luol Deng, Kendrick Nunn and Gabe Vincent. The total value of the contracts they were awarded is approximately $110 million for three players. Let’s remember each of these basketball players and understand what went wrong.
Luol Deng
Photo: Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images
Let’s go chronologically and start with perhaps one of the worst contracts in league history. From 2014 to 2016, Luol Deng showed a good game for Miami, being a kind of replacement for the deceased LeBron James. Few people remember those Heat in the first years after LeBron, but the team remained very qualitative, although quite conservative in its style of play. If it weren’t for Chris Bosh’s serious health problems, the Florida team could still make a lot of noise in the playoffs, even in such a declining state.
It’s the summer of 2016, with perhaps the craziest offseason in years. This happened due to a sharp increase in cap space, which led to the conclusion of a series of crazy deals across the league. One of these agreements was Deng’s invitation to the Lakers. The 30-year-old basketball player received a four-year contract worth a total of $72 million, a contract that still seems serious today, but then only NBA stars deserved that money. Luol received this money after a season in which he averaged 12.3 points. But in his first season with the new team, Deng performed much worse.
In the 2016/2017 season, Luol averaged 7.5 points (38% from the field) and 5.2 rebounds. He managed to play 57 games before being completely out of the rotation. The following season, he only played one game while awaiting his release. This happened in September 2018, after which he tried out in Minnesota and ended his career.
Kendrick Nunn
Photo: Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
Nunn’s move to the Lakers occurred recently, in the summer of 2021. The Lakers couldn’t even come close to repeating their success in the bubble and the salary situation left little room for action. However, money was found for Nannu’s contract. He received a two-year contract with a salary of $5 million a year. For Nunn, this was the biggest income of his career.
Kendrick’s story is similar to the biography of many players who managed to flourish in Miami. Several years in college, then undrafted status, the G-League and other thorns in the road to the NBA. Nunn debuted in the best league in the world only at the age of 24. In his first season, he lit up and averaged over 15 points per game, making the All-Rookie Second Team.
After a successful season, Nunn signed a contract with Los Angeles, but a serious injury sidelined him for a year. In the 2022/2023 season he managed to debut with the Lakers: 39 games and 6.7 points per game on average. Not at all what was expected. He failed to carve out a significant role in the rotation and was traded to the Washington Wizards in the winter of 2023, where he played the entire season and possibly ended his NBA career. Now Nunn plays for Panathinaikos, where in the Euroleague he delights with his offensive talent.
Gabe Vicente
Photo: Ronald Martínez/Getty Images
Let’s move on to what happened last summer, specifically the signing of defender Gabe Vincent. We can’t fully judge how his history with the Lakers will play out, but his first season is going well below expectations so far. The story with Vincent is similar to Nunn’s, except Gabe was able to showcase his talent in the biggest playoff games. He stood out as a key player in Miami’s path to the finals. He was especially nice in the games that Jimmy Butler missed due to injury: Vincent literally became one of the team’s leaders.
The basketball player, who had never earned more than $2 million, received a three-year contract from the Lakers for a total of $33 million. Five regular season games and a serious injury that kept him sidelined for several months. But even in those five games, Vincent looked like a pale shadow of himself. The guard seemed out of place in the Lakers’ system.
Strict judgments are premature, since five games are not enough for a basketball player to fully adapt. Vincent is very close to returning and will have the opportunity to help the Lakers reach the playoffs. How will he prove himself? Will he become the unexpected savior of the season for the Lakers? We will see you soon.
Erik Spoelstra
Photo: Justin Casterline/Getty Images
What these three players have in common is that they signed their contracts after playing with Erik Spoelstra. All of these stories are further indirect proof that Spoelstra is one of the best coaches in history. His game system and his way of getting the most out of little equipment is unmatched by anything in the league. Players who were previously not in demand in the league, under the leadership of Eric, after a while sign lucrative contracts. But many cannot maintain their previous level, since they shined precisely in Spoelstra’s system.
Short-sighted managers easily fall into the trap of overvaluing players on teams with excellent systems. This happens not only in basketball, but also in other sports. A comparison arises with the Brighton football team, which year after year successfully sells its players to the top for fabulous money. As a result, these players disappoint, fans criticize the club for a failed transfer and Brighton continue to find diamonds where no one is looking. I am sure that Miami in the coming years will release several guys who will gladly receive a good contract in another team, but who will not fully meet the expectations of the fans.
Great story with GOAT:
The double of the legendary Jordan wanted to sue him. The bus driver believed in perfect resemblance
